thinking out loud about latent and reluctant leadership

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A penetrating question

One of the other things Perry Noble asked young leaders pierced pretty deeply.

Are you more interested in being discovered or being developed?

Ouch. I had to do some self evaluation. Here are a few random follow up questions.

Do I feel deep down that I deserve that next step? If I arrive at the wrong conclusion, the result of my pride will be bitterness… and jealousy when others don’t notice my abilities. I recently started compiling a list of people who used to work for me but are now in higher positions than me. It was a good discipline, because it exposes my sin nature! I had to remind myself that those are successes. Perhaps I played a part in their development, even if the best thing I did was get out of the way and not hold them back.

Do I have a realistic picture of myself? I completed a 360 review last summer that even looked back on some previous jobs. My memories of my abilities and acomplishments in Canada were dashed as I read the feedback of two colleagues who pointed out some real flaws. Amazing to think that these two were among my biggest encouragers and supporters. When they looked at me, they obviously saw my potential more than my abilities. Thank God I’ve grown a lot since those days.

Am I a lifelong learner? Many have said that the first step of leadership is leading yourself. After all, the first and easiest thing I can control is myself. As I mentioned in a previous post, even those at the top don’t have it all figured out. I pray that when I’m 60, I’m just as devoted to trying new things. I pray that I continue to read and listen to things that challenge me and disagree with me. I pray that I still learn from others — even those with less experience than me.

2 thoughts on “A penetrating question”

This is a great question! I think my honest answer is that the desire to be developed is a strong, yet second-tier motivation for me to take that next step. But the biggest motivation is to serve Christ in the fullest capacity possible. I don’t want to come to the end of my days and not have served Him in any capacity He offered me… This underscores the truth that promotion and opportunity, like all good gifts, comes from the Lord. This truth brings me peace as I look to the potential of a promotion with longing eyes. JGH

I agree with the questions asked in the post as well as what Joshua has written above.
Now hang with me a bit on this. I’m not just concerned about hearing the, “Well done…” from the Lord. I want all my family members to hear Him say those words as well. That’s what I pray for everyday.
Lately I’ve had this vision in my mind. It’s sort of a two part movie. One is us all serving and being as faithful as we can be, the second is — as a family — walking up to the Lord and hearing Him use those precious words for us all. And just to add a touch of drama to it, in the background is smoke/fog and songs from E.S. Posthumous are being played.
That’s my dream for our whole Baldwin clan all nine of us at this point.
Blessings,
Dave